Los Ginger Ninjas, Rodando México

Hey film buffs, beatniks, minstrels, followers of troubadour wandering and utility bicycle freaks!
Today I received an email notification from Kickstarter...
That film featuring the Ginger Ninja's 2008 pedal powered musical tour through Mexico has finally been completed and is about to be released at the 'Festival Internacional de Cine' in Guadalajara... Mexico.

Here's a bit of a blurb from Guadalajara film festival website about:
The Ginger Ninjas Ride Mexico
Los Ginger Ninjas, Rodando México (Spanish)
 
Synopsis
The documentary recounts the one-and-only tour in the history of a band, treading Mexico from the United States by bicycle. The members of Los Ginger Ninjas carry their musical instruments on their bikes over 8 thousand kilometers. The group generates its own electricity for the concerts with the bicycles. The documentary illustrates the transformations and conflicts of those characters influenced by the physical and emotional demands of this aforesaid adventure.



I really hope this film will be available in Australia. I'm pretty sure Australia and Mexico are both coded as region 4 so there should be a bunch of DVDs that will be viewable down here. I'll definitely approach the producers to find out how long we will have to wait! Anyone interested in a screening?
Maybe the Deckchair will show it for us. If not I'll just have to rig up a data projector and stereo to the cargo cart chariot and screen the darn thing myself!
See you at the Australian Premier!

The only thing I'm not too impressed with is the name change... I'm so sorry Mr Morkin, I really liked the original title 'Stuck on Earth'! It seemed to cover the all aspects of the ride including the reason behind it. We only have one earth and we must commit ourselves to it's care... the grass is not greener elsewhere... we're stuck here with what we've made of it... The lives of the participants, regardless of having their heads in the clouds their feet, or wheels, remain; sticking to the earth. When plans, materials, relationships fail... we're left feeling like we're stuck here. Ultimately the title says to me Hey we're here right now, lets make the most of it...

I think the original title would have drawn more of an audience but at the end of the day it's a film that's going to appeal mostly to cyclists and all those who'd like to reduce their carbon footprint on the earth. We'll watch it whatever you call it! Please make your film available in Australia.

Bikey Boy rap...!

The family went out without me on Saturday night. I had a busy day and came home to an empty house!

I'm pretty sure it was the first time in a couple of years! I could have done anything but I wasted my time on the computer again..! Well it wasn't a total waste of time, I did manage to play my own choice of music on the sterio... through the speakers! As loud as I wanted! YEH!

Sam took the kids to the NT Schools concert IMAGINE. They were bombed out when they got back so we put the kids to bed and Sam told me all about the show. Apparently there were plenty of great performances but what the kids really liked was. The Bikey Boys from Nyirripi!

She was sure I'd like them and insisted that we look them up on Youtube straight away. We did, and I do!

Check out their video it's very cool!

Bikey Boys From Nyirripi

Some great lyrics in this song, fun dancing but, strangely, the Bikey Boys only have one bike between the lot of them!

"My bike is a bird, I fly around town.
Looking for food, crawling on the ground.
Watch out because it might be you.
There's no tellin what my bike bird could do"

Or how about this line?

"...It's me, My bike, and the dirt road!"

The beginning of the song reminded me of a section in the middle of 'The Brothers Cup' by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, a little bit.

What is the message in this song?
BIKES ARE FUN!
Rap On Boys.. and get yourself some more bikes!

Simplify

Right now here in Darwin we are experiencing the eye of category 1 Cyclone Carlos. Prior to the development of the tropical low and the accompanying 'very' wet (Over 400mm in 24 hours) weather I was busy getting on with simplifying my life and leaving the blogging world behind me. Just give it up, cold turkey like a bad habit or addiction... (I'm sure Thoreau wouldn't have spent his days blogging...! He'd probably have some great derogatory description for those who waste their time on such egocentric nonsense)

Instead of blogging mindless 'twitter' I have been reading 'Walden' by Henry David Thoreau and spending my days exploring, walking, paddling, planting etc... and loving it! But now I'm housebound, taking shelter from Carlos, the Wind and the Rain,and I'm too close to the computer to resist.

Here's some things I've seen over the past month or so.


(A great train headed south)


(A walk through the mangroves amongst the Mud-skippers)


(A mossy wonderland)


(Wild Ginger on a hillside in Litchfield National Park)


(Giant Myrtle Beach trees in a sacred gully in the Otways)


(Paddling a swollen river in Geelong)


(A living sculpture of plants and food in Collingwood)


(A magical era of bicycle innovation and invention)

Over the past month I have enjoyed some really wonderful experiences. I have shared most of these with the ones I love and we have felt blessed to live in a place that has so much natural beauty and to have the right to travel freely to almost any place we like in this country. 

I have also seen the continued trauma and pain suffered by Asylum Seekers and the lack of compassion shown by our Governments, media and many members of our society toward these vulnerable people. 

I have seen the continuation of racist policies and sanctioned discrimination against Indigenous people in the Northern Territory and I have seen the destruction and defilement of places that are incredibly dear to me.

It's a busy time in this life and everything seems to be moving way too fast. I resolved at the end of last year to make better use of my time and not bother too much with useless things. The more practical the better and there's no point to prattling on about it. I may find that while tapping away on this keyboard I have missed a perfect opportunity to learn to knit, sharpen a tool, identify a plant, skin a rabbit or grow a bean! Right now I could be writing a letter to a certain Shire Council challenging them on their decision to allow developers to channel their stinking festering drain pipes from their environmentally disastrous housing estate straight into the Plenty River that I love!
Maybe if I'd had just one spare day I could have spent it collecting all the shit that has washed through those drains and dumped it in the nearest showroom of that housing estate? Now that would have been time well spent!


(The destruction of the fields where I used to roam)

I took my boy out to the fields so he could experience the fresh air, the smell of the grass and to feel the dry bark and clay under his feet just as I did when I was his age! Alas I was too late! They have taken it all away!

Bicycle apparel for the Top End

Darwin Bicycle Chic
Several months ago while visiting one of the very trendy bicycle shops in town I allowed myself to drift across the shop into the area where they sell all that fancy licra stuff. I'd been reading the Fat Cyclist blog and was half sucked in to buying one of his stylized Fat Cyclist skivvy, skin tight top things. I like the name and thought it would be a laugh... I couldn't believe how much of that stuff they have for sale or how expensive it is!

Having read one or Too Many bicycle blogs I have noticed that some cyclists are really into their gear.

Whether people are into road riding, racing or just hanging out being cool on the street there's a lot of people out there who really want to look cool. Apparently what you wear is important. Whether the intention is to help you go faster or just look good cycling clobber is basically deigned with the idea that it is functional while riding a bicycle. There appears to be a whole world of fashion surrounding bicycle culture so I thought I'd contribute some of my personal preferences to the discussion of appropriate cycling apparel.

Bicycle Clobber Review

Here is my preferred outfit for Cycling in Darwin during the months January - May ..... August - December (June and July get a bit cool so I occasionally wear a T-shirt or even something with long sleeves.)

• Helmet -  $20 Bought brand new about 5 years ago. The padding has fallen out which caused me to improvise. I now wear a back to front baseball cap under the helmet which provides both padding to my scon and shade to the back of my neck...
• Vest - $2  These are pretty easy to find in Darwin oppshops and at the tip. This one is actually an ex Anset Airlines vest! (A classic!)It is highly visible in both day and night, loose fitting and has a small pocket just the right size for my music playing thingie.
• Cammo Shorts - $2 Opp Shop special. I love these shorts but unfortunately the synthetic doesn't stretch to match my rapidly expanding middle. Lots of pockets, cool cammo colour scheme and groovy tie up fly with valcro backup... (OK They don't look great when they're tight or with jelly like flesh hanging over the edges!)
  
• Imitation Crocs - $? My mum bought them for me 3 years ago... She thought I liked them... I never really liked them I don't know why she thought I did. I have to admit that I've finally gotten used to wearing them since I accidentally left my thongs somewhere! It is handy to have something on your feet especially if you've got sharp peddles. When I first started wearing these the rubber was really grippy and I kept catching my toe nails on them! It's taken a while to wear them in but I've finally gotten used to them so they will do until I find another pair of thongs.

(See the reflective tape really does shine when there's is a light on it!)




This is by far my favorite cycle gear. It's all synthetic so it's not the 'nicest' stuff to wear but once the sweat starts to flow I don't particularly like wearing wet clingy T-Shirts or having sweaty wet patches in the front or rear of my cotton shorts!

Shoes
Besides the usual divisions between the 'licra clad' and 'Street-wear crowds, helmeted or non helmeted and so on and so forth etc... etc... I've never quite understood the debate over clipless or non clipless footwear.

What's the deal with that? When my cycle shoes were new they had some clip-on straps across the heal. I used to strap them on but the plastic rivets got bashed off as they brushed against the crank of my bike, so ended up riding without them... I was clipless I suppose.... For goodness sake! It hardly made any difference! but try riding shoeless on Bear Trap peddles!

I don't particularly like riding barefoot, at least not on the peddles that I am currently using. It's a bit like wearing masseur sandals, made of rusty nails!   

Although I prefer to wear thongs I have become used to wearing the rubber clogs. When I ride my road bike I can get them to stick in the toe-clips and I can slide my feet in and out of them when I dismount.

Quite a good cycle shoe.

Where can we ride our bikes?

Recently I read a blog article about cycling culture in Darwin. The author of the blog, who was visiting from interstate, commented on a variety of aspects of Darwin culture that differs from that in other states. The most significant difference is the fact that we have exemptions from helmet laws requiring cyclists to wear helmets at all times. This has inspired me to try and post more on this subject in future. One of the features mentioned was what the author considdered an impressinve network of bicycle paths.

It is true Darwin does have some nice examples of shared cycle/foot paths but I don't believe we live in a cyclists Utopia. There is much wrong in Darwin when it comes to infrastructure and planning for bicycles. There also appears to be growing hostility between drivers and cyclists on our roads. 

I'm not too sure about the state of Bicycle Advocacy in Darwin at the moment, I am aware of a few bicycle clubs but there is only a small group actively involved in our bicycle advocacy network 'Bicycle NT', which must make it quite difficult to form an active or effective advocacy group that is able to influence decision makers in Government.

Lately I've noticed a few changes to some of our bicycle paths but they don't appear to be following any coordinated plan or design. I am sure bicycle path or lane planning in Darwin is an add hock opporation that doesn't refer to any standard of design and I would be very surprised if decisions have been made in cooperation with informed representatives from our cycling community.

Examples of recent works include the new path along Vanderlyn Drive which joins McMillans Rd to the Stuart Highway. Some sections of this path virtually merge the cycle path with the road when there are open fields of open space available on the other side of the path. 20kmh speed limits in areas where there are children's playgrounds and many pedestrians, bicycle paths merging onto main roads at busy intersections and the most pathetic attempt at widening Lee Point Rd after Vanderly. This particular piece of roadwork should be the case in point for bicycle advocacy in Darwin. This is a single lane road with a speed limit recently reduced from Open to 80kmh (People still treat it as if it has an open limit) The road leads to a boat ramp, a popular coastal reserve and a caravan park that houses 1,000s of tourists during the dry season. Many of theis used by fishermen with boatsspeed limit, where drA road leading twhich is relied on  the.

I am hoping to blog some of this stuff over the coming weeks, not to bring you down but just as a means of showing how things are here and maybe questioning the logic.

One of my favorite bicycle blogs 'A View from the cycle path' written by David Hembrow often discusses issues of design and planning with the objective of creating a much more bicycle friendly universe. David produces some great video documentaries.


The latest post David's blog contains a video tour along a Dutch cycle path with text added to indicate various virtues of a dedicated cycle path.
Reality-vs myth dangers of dutch cycle

Although this model would not be practable for a place like Darwin where we have a much smaller population and far greater distances it still offers some basic principals that can be applied with regard to right of way, distance from roads, merging traffic and dealing with intersections.

If we want to create a safe cycling environment in Darwin I believe planners need to give propper considderation to these basic design principals rather than consrtucting cycle paths that channel riders into hazardous situations.